Greenville City Council to draft distracted driving ordinance

Greenville City Council members decided on Monday to draft an ordinance that restricts the use of handheld phones while driving.

During a work session, city leaders presented information about similar efforts that are already underway in other municipalities.

Julie Horton, government relations manager for the City of Greenville, said her research showed that nine cities in South Carolina -- including Beaufort, Camden, Clemson, Columbia, Hilton Head, Mount Pleasant, Sumter, Walhalla and West Union -- have some form of distracted driving ordinance in place. Horton said proposals in Bluffton, Charleston, Hardeeville and Port Royal are awaiting adoption.

Horton said South Carolina is one of three states with no statewide law addressing distracted driving. The other two states are Arizona and Montana.

Mayor Pro Tem David Sudduth told WYFF that council members expect to have a proposed ordinance within a couple of weeks.

"It will likely start off on the stricter side," Sudduth said. "We'll make revisions after getting feedback."

Suddeth said the goal is to have a distracted driving ordinance in effect by Jan. 1.

Copyright 2013 byWYFF All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Comments

The views expressed are not those of this site, this station or its affiliated companies. By posting your comments you agree to accept our terms of use. WYFF News 4 offers readers the ability to comment on stories with the understanding that these comments may be reprinted elsewhere on the site or used on WYFF News 4 newscasts. We ask that you refrain from profanity, hate speech, comments that don’t relate to the story, and any personal remarks. THIS IS IMPORTANT: WYFF News 4 does not edit user submitted statements and we cannot promise that readers will not, at times, find offensive or inaccurate comments posted in the comments area. If you find a comment that is objectionable or offensive, click the flag that appears in the upper right corner when you hover over a comment. Flagged comments may be automatically hidden from comment threads. For comments to appear on the website and/or mobile app, email addresses must be verified through Disqus. We ask the community to monitor this forum with the knowledge that WYFF News 4 does not delete posts based on the content. We are glad to offer commenting on our site but we cannot be responsible for people who abuse the privilege.

The Obama administration will unveil a major climate change plan Monday aimed at a large reduction in greenhouse gas emissions from the nation's coal-burning power plants, a senior administration official told CNN.